2023-08-01 18:30:33
A working group on nickel should, with all the stakeholders, propose “by the fall” measures to “consolidate the future of the nickel industry”.
In New Caledonia, the closure of nickel extraction and processing sites “seems to date inevitable” in the absence of “new intervention by private actors and public authorities”, and despite “recent and massive” support. , indicates a report submitted Tuesday to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The diagnostic report written by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) and the General Council for the Economy (CGE), is made public less than a week after Emmanuel Macron’s return from a visit to New Caledonia , during which he promised a “nickel project for the future” to make the factories that exploit this ore profitable.
The elements of diagnosis contained in the report will feed the reflections of a working group on nickel, which, with all the stakeholders, will have to propose “by the autumn” measures to “consolidate the future of the nickel industry,” Matignon said in a statement accompanying the release of the report.
A risk of an increase in local unemployment “by around 50%”
According to the text, the “simultaneous failure” of the three current factories “would lead to an increase in unemployment in the territory of around 50%”, to an “imbalance” in the social accounts of New Caledonia, and to significant environmental costs. which should be supported at least partially by the public authorities. Such a bankruptcy would be all the more damaging since, globally, nickel is one of the most sought-after metals in the current energy transition, especially to fill the batteries of electric cars.
The nickel sector in New Caledonia could “theoretically represent” in the long term, “up to 85%” of the needs of French giga-factories of batteries in 2030, or “14% of the needs of the EU in 2035”, explains The report.
“A gradual depletion” of the richest deposits
However “the metallurgical activity is not profitable” in New Caledonia, deplore the experts: the three industrialists which constitute the bulk of the sector (SLN, KNS and PRNC) “all have been making losses for more than 10 years” . Caledonian mines and metallurgical plants do not produce enough and are too expensive, summarizes the report. Especially in the face of “the emergence of other industrial operators”, particularly in Indonesia, which benefit from much cheaper energy, subsidized by the State, and labor costs five times lower than that of the New Caledonia, analyzes the report.
And two of them are facing “a progressive depletion” of their richest deposits. However, these companies have benefited from “considerable” public funding: since 2016, the State has granted “nearly 700 million euros in loans” to two of them by opening “540 million euros in guarantees”.
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